"You were too scared to even think," he said. "If a man told you he wasn't scared, he was lying or he had some other reason he wanted to die."

But Bell survived that day as the Allies took the bluff, and thought he had it made. If he could survive the landing, he could survive anything.

Then came fighting through the hedgerows.

These were mazes of walled vegetation that caused the Americans to become separated and confused and walk into trouble.

The Germans knew the mazes. They had plotted out where to drop mortar shells, and their accuracy was deadly.

"They could put one of those rounds in a number-three washtub," he said — an area about two feet by two feet.

One night soon after landing, he had a particularly close encounter.

He was holding a pistol in his hand, gazing into the pitch-black night. From through the hedge, he felt someone tug on his firearm. Bell pulled back and did not fire, and he heard the sound of swishing grass — it seemed clear to him that someone had tried to grab his pistol, thought better of it, and run away.

The next day, a German soldier came forward and surrendered. Bell figured it was the soldier he had encountered the night before.

"They were humans like ourselves, and they bled accordingly," he said. "I couldn't understand a word they said, but when that guy came in with his hands up, I knew he wanted to surrender."

As he recalled, it took weeks to get through the hedgerows, and Bell said he was tapped repeatedly to serve as a night-time messenger — a hazardous job since Americans could run into German forces in the dark tunnels of vegetation.

"We go over there and monkey around and I brought the boys back. That was the first night they sent us," he said.

Then he smiled. "After that, I got sent out every night!"

His other recollection of that time is halfway amusing now that 66 years have gone by.

Momentarily knocked out by the concussion of a German shell, Bell apparently looked dead to another soldier, who yanked off one of his dog tags. By the time Bell awoke, the soldier was walking away.

He eventually ran down the man and retrieved his tags.

"I could have got out of the Army right there," he said, laughing. "Right then was my time to get out of the Army alive."

Today, he lives near the water in Hampton and treasures his few remaining pieces of memorabilia. He lost several items in a house fire years ago.

He has a pistol that was taken from a dead German pilot had crash-landed in his bomber. Bell carried it as a sidearm afterwards. Unlike some WWII veterans who have never spoken of their experiences, Bell said he has never stopped talking about the war.

"I live it every day."

Their Words, Their War

To watch video of Carson Bell and other veterans recalling World War II, visit "Their Words, Their War," a Daily Press collection of World War II memories. And please consider adding a recollection of your own, or perhaps helping your parents contribute. You'll find a link to "Their Words, Their War" at dailypress.com.